Testimony submitted to: 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency {EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602) 

In support of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Rule 

Submitted by Amber Hewett, Newburyport, Massachusetts 

July 29, 2014 

Good afternoon. My name is Amber Hewett and I work for the National Wildlife Federation's Northeast 

Climate Program. I speak to you today as an individual and a citizen, and particularly as a coastal New 

Englander. I thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of the Clean Power Rule. 

I live and work in the beautiful coastal city of Newburyport, Massachusetts, which has been home to my 

family for four generations. Last year, Newburyport made national headline news as six houses toppled 

into the Atlantic Ocean during one winter's set of coastal storms. And while it made for a dramatic video 

clip, what is missing from that message is the rate at which we got there. When I look at photos of my 

parents and their parents enjoying the same beaches that I frequent now, I notice that the scenery is 

eerily consistent. It looks much like our beaches did for most of my childhood. But the past decade of 

photos tell a dramatically different story. 

The same porch that I used to sit on to apply sun screen before crossing a boardwalk that bridged a 

hundred yards of healthy dune, rich with tall grasses, needed to be sawed from its house last winter so 

the approaching high tide would take it with a clean break, to avoid structural damage to the house itself. 

That house survived the winter, but is now neighbored by three empty lots, with no indication that it will 

not leave the same footprint with the next Nor' Easter. 

When I considered how I would allocate my few minutes of your attention today, I wrote a first draft of 

comments full of the statistics and forecasts I often use to underscore the importance of decreasing our 

reliance on carbon-polluting sources of energy. But then I spoke to my friends and neighbors in 

Massachusetts who are newly and painfully aware that we live on the front lines of climate change and 

that many share our company- and I decided to deliver their most united message, because maybe you 

haven't heard that yet today: 

On the North Shore of Massachusetts, we have made the shift to responding to the impacts of climate 

change that are already upon us. Out of necessity, that is where we need to be. But that new reality and 

the results it will produce in the coming years, need to be part of a much larger and more holistic package 

that must include the implementation of a strengthened Clean Power Rule. With this rule and the 

national, regional, and local collaboration that will follow as its targets are brought to fruition, we can 

know that the big picture is getting brighter. While coastal· populations of people and wildlife brace for 

and weather the storms ahead, we will be empowered to know that we are working within a large and 

concerted effort to learn from our stories and build them into what will be a pivotal moment in changing 

the trajectory of our energy path. 

So yes, I am here out of fear for the problem we face, and what it means for coastal New England and all 

low-lying communities. I am here because climate change is the single greatest threat to wildlife and their 

habitats. I am here because present and future generations deserve the clean air and clean water that life 

on this planet has to offer, and that we all benefit greatly from protecting in the immediate, near, and 
long-term. Yes, my fury for the challenge of combatting the effects of decades of unchecked carbon 

pollution steered me toward this line of work at a very young age. 

But the first and foremost reason I am here today is my confidence in our ability to rise to the challenge 

of climate change by crafting and realizing a visionary and effective set of solutions. Not only because we 

have to, and because we are making constant progress, but because we have a wealth of potential we 

have yet to harness in, for example, our Atlantic offshore wind power capacity. Finally beginning to tap 

the estimated 1,300 GW of electricity generation, in fortuitous proximity to some of our largest East 

Coast markets- can carry many states toward and beyond their standards. An effective· power plant rule 

can attract game-changing demand to deserving clean energy solutions that will create local jobs, 

stabilize energy prices, enhance our nation's competitiveness, and yes, protect future generations from 

the dangerous impacts of climate change. 

We can't afford to be anything but determined to reach the clean energy future we are entirely capable 

of securing. I am grateful for the opportunity to add my voice, and am inspired by many of the words I 

have heard today. I urge you, for the sake of coastal New Englanders and for wildlife and future 

generations from coast to coast, to commit to making this rule the best it can be, and to implement it 

swiftly.